


this is the golden age

by cosmicwritings



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, also there's a lil lowkey other ships in there, fem!James - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-04-15 09:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4602171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicwritings/pseuds/cosmicwritings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'By the time Lily looks up, Jane Potter's leaning over the edge at the top, her mouth upturned. Her head is thrown back in laughter, her short black hair swinging carelessly around her shoulders. Her nose scrunches as she laughs at Lily, and her cheeks flush pink, and it must be the light of a nearby lamp, but Lily's suddenly mesmerised, though she know she won't admit it.' AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. and i built a home for you (and me) -- Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> like a little overview???? bear with me, this is really short and idk word vomit mostly, other chapters are longer i swear. (855)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos and comments are a gift from god.

Lily Evans is five when she decides Tuney is her best friend and they were never going to part. She doesn't mind when her sister makes her do things she doesn't want to do, because it's nice to have a role model and it's nice to rely on someone. 

She's ten when Severus, the boy nearby that her sister is always sneering at, tells her she's a witch. She's offended, and thinks he's weird, at first. But he's nice to her and makes her smile, and he's there for her that time Tuney threw her favourite doll in the bin because Lily changed the hair colour without touching it.

She's eleven when she loses Tuney on the platform to a make-believe world, and it's like their relationship is hanging on a loose thread that the latter is trying to cut.

She's almost twelve when she meets an immature girl called Jane. It's the same age she finds another best friend for the first time since Tuney and Severus, and the stark contrast makes her smile.

She's thirteen when she finds it in herself to give 'the Marauders' a chance, and, actually, they're not half-bad as friends. It's been a long time since she's able to feel like she can actually belong.

She's fourteen when she spends Valentine's Day locked in her dormitory with Mary, Dorcas and Marlene after a particularly bad break-up. It's the day she confesses that she was attracted to Anya Patil, just as much as Gilderoy Lockhart. Mary bursts out laughing in relief and high-fives her, the words 'thank God, me too--' spilling out of her mouth.

She's just turned fifteen by a few months, and there's a massive row over something or another, and it tears her circle of friends in half. It makes her angrier than she has been in a long time, and it's the same year her father dies. 

She's still fifteen when she loses another important person of her life, and she probably should have seen it coming, but she cries until one in the morning on Mary's bed, knowing that the broken friendship was damaged long before she had tried to fix it anyway.

She's sixteen and, suddenly, the war becomes very real. The death toll is rising, more kidnaps, and she thinks it's time to say sorry and build bridges over things that life could easily rip away from them. It's the eight of them again, the stupid group of reckless Gryffindors against the world.

She's seventeen and Headgirl, yet she feels like twelve when she dissolves into blushes and stammering in front of a girl she never thought she'd fall for, and there's a ridiculous smile on her lips every time she talks to her.

She's eighteen when she finds herself in love, and it's scary and exciting, but she thinks she likes it.

\--

Jane Potter is six when she realises that she lives in a happy household, that her mother and father love her with an undying passion and she thinks that how it should be.

She's seven when she sees families of other Purebloods with unhappy children and it's then she finds out that the world isn't like that, how she's one of the lucky ones.

She's eleven when she doesn't find one brother, but three, on the way to Hogwarts. Her parents have always been able to provide her with almost anything other than this, and she decides that she's never going to let any of them go.

She's still eleven when she looks at a redhead girl with the eyes of broken glass, and she doesn't know what she feels her for her yet, but it's something.

She's barely twelve when she learns one of her best friends was a werewolf. She spends the next three years secretly learning to be an Animagus because, law be damned, nothing would tear the Marauders apart.

She's fifteen when an argument spills over, but her pride has always been a flaw in her person. It takes a few months for her to work up the sense to apologise, but she's turned away and she's hurt. It's the year she asks out Lily Evans in a moment of desperation, after barely a year of a crush, but her stubbornness makes her scoff and it hurts a little more than before.

She's sixteen when the same girl apologises to her, a mumbled apology that ends up turning into a half-hour long speech. When she looks at the taller girl expectantly, there's a big grin on Jane's face as she hugs her, and things almost go back to normal after that.

She's seventeen by a few months when someone starts up the rumour again that she and Sirius have something going on, and some of her friend are indignant on her behalf, but the rest of the Marauders and herself find it ridiculously funny. 

She's seventeen when she falls head-first into love, and she thinks it should be terrifying to care about someone this much, but she realises she's been doing it for years.


	2. Heavy lies the crown (on either side)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> first day of back to hogwarts yay (4804)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos and comments, and i'll love you.

The screech of the train whistle is only second to rival with a mother's voice as she shouts at the two teenagers darting through the crowd with their trunks in tow. Various greetings are called out towards the two seventh years, but the family deem only to ignore it as they say their last emotional --

"Jane Potter, Sirius Black -- if I get one more letter from Hogwarts telling me that you two have set fire to something in the Great Hall again, I will be pulling you both out!"

\-- goodbyes.

"For Merlin's sake, it was only one time!" the girl says to her mother, but she's grinning and pushing her glasses up hastily with one hand whilst she uses the other to drag her trunk. 

"Actually, there was a time when we --"

Her sharp elbow digs into the boy standing next to her, causing him to yelp in pain. "Shut up, Sirius. Anyway, we should probably get on the train."

Mrs. Potter drops her stern glare as she moves forward to plant a kiss on Jane's head. She lifts her hand to ruffle her daughter's already messy hair. "All right, I love you. It's your last year, have fun, yes? I'll see you at Christmas."

"Love you too," Jane leans down to give her mother a kiss on the cheek, who turns to Sirius waiting. He's staring at the family, before realising Mrs. Potter catching him looking, and quickly averts his eyes to the Hogwarts Express instead.

"You too, Sirius," the older woman tells him, and she beckons him forward to kiss him on the head too. "You're coming for Christmas, too, you hear?"

Sirius does his best to hide a smile as she pulls him into a hug. "You've already let me stay for so long --"

"Don't be silly, you come every year for Christmas." Mrs. Potter shakes her head at him. "Jane, drag him onto the train home for the holidays, if he won't come, okay?"

Her daughter responds with a thumbs up as she's glancing around the station.

"Thanks," Sirius says, and he pauses for a moment. Swallowing thickly, he lowers his voice slightly and says, "And thank you for letting me stay, you know, ever since I ran away..."

Mrs. Potter gave him a smile, pulling him into another hug, and she might've said something, but the whistle blew yet again. "Hurry up, you two, or you'll miss it!"

They only just manage to close the train door before it begins pulling away from the station. 

"Oi, mate," Sirius says at the last moment, putting out a hand to stop Jane from walking down the corridor. "I just wanted to say thanks to you for letting me stay as well."

"Don't be silly," she scoffs, echoing her mother only moments before. "You're my best mate. Of course I let you stay." She slugs an arm around him, pulling him along. "C'mon, let's see where Moony and Wormtail are. I was looking for them at the station, but I couldn't see them anywhere."

"They must've gotten on the train already," Sirius says, and they both made their way down the corridor. 

The first compartment they check only contains two third-years, whose eyes widen at the sight of the Gryffindor seventh years and hastily make up excuses as they run out of the compartment and down the corridor. Sirius catches one of them on the way out to ask if they're going to return to the compartment, to which the younger girl promptly blushes and stammers out they can take the compartment.

"You terrified them," Jane tells him with a pointed glance as they store their trunks. 

"I didn't do anything," Sirius disagrees, flinging himself into the seat once he's done. "I asked if they were going to use it."

She rolls her eyes. "You know they were going to give it to you when you asked."

"So?"

Jane flicks him instead. "I thought we were going to look around for Moony and Wormtail?"

"But I just sat down," Sirius whines, yet he stands up, throwing over his shoulder, "You just want to see if Evans is around." 

Jane pretends she doesn't hear him, pushing him forwards as they make their way down the corridor. 

"You know she's Headgirl this year?" Sirius says, clearly not letting it go, despite the fact they've talked about it before. "McKinnon told me when we were in Diagon Alley."

"I wonder who's Headboy this year," she says, ignoring his attempts to redirect the conversation. "Not Moony, we would've known. That rules out our Gryffindor prefect. -- Oh, Merlin, if it's Snape, I'll vomit. Literally."

Whilst her face takes a look of horror, Sirius scowls at the mention of him. "It's not Snape. Apparently, it's Bertram Aubrey."

"Who?"

"Ravenclaw prefect. You know, the bloke we hexed in fifth year and got double detention for." 

"Oh, Bighead," Jane nods in recognition. "Still, at least it's not Snape." She pauses outside one of the compartments, pushing at it to open. "Oi, has any of you seen Remus Lupin or Peter Pettigrew?"

The group of fifth year Ravenclaws inside all shake their heads, and Jane closes the door again. They check in a few compartments, filled with people they don't particularly know; excitable first years, gossiping third years Gryffindors. It's the fourth compartment they're about to check when Sirius stops, his face blanching.

"Regulus is in that compartment," he tells Jane when she gives him a questioning look. "I can hear his git friend Avery from a mile away."

She grimaces. "We can miss this compartment out. I doubt they'd give us remotely helpful information anyway."

"No, let's ask anyway," Sirius says -- and it only takes his best friend a moment to understand his need to check up on his brother, without wanting to admit it. She remembers the night Sirius turned up on their doorstep, and telling her that he tried to get Regulus to leave too. 

With a shrug, she lets him push open the door, effectively halting the three Slytherins' conversation.

"What do you want?" Avery spits out, casting a look from Regulus to Sirius.

"None of your concern," Sirius replies, equally coolly. He glances at his younger brother instead. "Don't suppose any of you have seen Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, have you?"

"Why would we care where any of you blood traitors are?"

Jane realises only a second too late that Sirius is also looking to pick a fight with Slytherins. It's the receding bitterness in his voice that could be heard, the look of hatred in his eyes. It's the knowledge of the abandonment he feels from his former family, bleeding out with his feelings right out in front of them. Regulus Black stares out of the window, refusing to pay any of them attention.

"Use that word again, I dare you," Sirius says threateningly, and he takes a step forward towards Avery.

"Padfoot," Jane says loudly, catching her friend by the arm. 

Sirius ignores her.

"Can't handle the truth, can you?" Avery taunts, and his fingers are already twirling his wand. "I heard your family finally managed to rid themselves of you." As if to emphasise his point, he gives a pointed look towards Regulus.

Sirius makes the noise of an angry cat, and jerks his arm out of Jane's grasp, just as the latter shouts, "Oi!"

There's a flurry of movement next, the sight of so many things happening at once that it leads to ultimate confusion. Avery jumps to his feet when he sees Sirius advancing towards him without so much of his wand in his hand, arms raised to punch him instead, and Jane finds herself unable to decide whether to help him or hinder him. In the end, she makes a half-hearted attempt to stop Sirius, before standing in front of the last member of the compartment that isn't Regulus or Avery. The remaining member, who has yet to say a word, leaps to her feet to help her friend, but finds herself promptly blocked by the towering figure of Jane instead. Regulus' eyes finally leave the window, and is staring at the scene unfolding, before there is a bang -- to which they all ducked out of instinct, wands flying in the direction of the door.

A redhaired witch, one of her hands outstretched to catch the wands and the other raising her own, stands at the half-opened door. She's wearing Muggle jeans and a t-shirt, though a gleaming Headgirl badge sits proudly on her chest. She opens her mouth, and for a moment they think she's about to scream, but she gives a low sigh instead.

"Potter, Black, are you fighting before we reach Hogwarts already?" Lily Evans says wearily. Behind her, two other boys dart forward into the compartment, grabbing Sirius and Jane by the arm to pull them out.

The immediate shock finally wears off around the compartment, and Avery sneers. He takes a step forward towards her, looking as if he'd willingly fight her to regain his wand from her. "Give me back my wand, Mudblood."

Jane opens her mouth indignantly, pulling away slightly from Peter Pettigrew who has her arm, and another "Oi!" falls out.

"Are you, a sixth year, really going to try and challenge a Headgirl?" Lily says, with her eyebrows raised. She throws a wand at him carelessly, turning back to the Marauders behind her.

"We didn't fight because, technically, no one actually hit or hexed anyone," Jane says with a scowl.

"Yet," Sirius adds under his breath.

"Then no points are allowed to be deducted. Good. It would have been annoying if I had to deduct points within the first few hours of being Headgirl." Lily moves so she can close the compartment door, sweeping her eyes over the Slytherins as it closes. "Well, this is a not-so-pleasant greeting after six weeks of not seeing each other."

"We saw each other in Diagon Alley a few weeks ago," Jane points out.

Lily looks mildly surprised. "Yes, I suppose we did. I forgot about that. What were you two doing picking fights with Slytherins, anyway?"

Jane gives a sideways glance at Sirius, who still seems to be moderately mad as he's scowling at the compartment door. He turns to look at Remus and Peter. "Actually, we were looking for you two. Where've you guys been?"

"Looking for you," Remus replies, and Jane realises suddenly that the boy looks far too pale. He looks as if he's about to say something, but Lily is listening to the conversation in interest, and he closes his mouth instead. 

"We must've walked right past each other, then," Peter jumps in quickly, his voice light. 

Lily's still looking at them curiously, but the conversation has fizzled out remarkably awkwardly, so she says to Jane, "I was in the compartment with the other girls before I passed here for the toilet. D'you want to say hi? Mary was wondering where you were." She flicks a glance to Sirius, as well. "Marlene'll want you to stop by as well, Black."

Sirius' eyebrows raise, and she's hastening to add, "Don't tell her I told you that."

Lily slips past them, her red hair bouncing behind her, as she makes her way back down the corridor. Remus and Peter both tilt their heads as if to figure out whether to follow her or not, but Sirius shrugs and walks. Peter scrambles to catch up with the taller boy, his short legs moving considerably fast to keep up the pace, until he manages to keep his strides with Sirius'. Jane hesitates first, unsure what's keeping her from going with them, but she notices Remus waiting for her, so she begins to walk too.

"Are you all right?" Jane says quietly to him, making sure they're not overheard. As they're passing underneath lamps, she can see how sickly he really looks.

He gives her a worn smile. "Full moon's in less than a week. You know how I get."

"You're sure you're all right, though?" she repeats and Remus rolls his eyes at her pestering, nodding. 

"Wait," she tells him anyway, and she stops for a moment to rummage through her pockets, before handing him something. "I knew I had a chocolate frog left. Eat this until the trolley comes around."

Remus rolls his eyes again, saying sarcastically, "Yes, mother," but he takes the chocolate gratefully. 

"Glad to know that you're dealing with your furry little problem," she says with a grin, and she slings her arm around him as they quicken their pace to keep up with the other three. Lily turns around as she hears them, her green eyes catching Jane's for a split second, before she continues her conversation with Peter. Almost subconsciously, Jane lifts a hand to run her hair back, messing it greatly, and she catches Remus smirking.

"What?" she says, her hand dropping with a scowl, and it's plain infuriating when he just shakes his head, still with a smirk swiped across his features.

"Lily?" a voice says as a compartment door to their right opens, and Mary's head pops out. "Oh, Dork, you are right. It is their voices."

"I told you, call me 'Dork' one more time and I'll throw something at you," a muffled voice says from inside.

"I'm not that loud," Lily scoffs.

"Please. We can hear your voice from the down the corridor." 

She pulls a face and shoves Mary aside so she can enter the compartment, saying, "Oh, yeah, I bumped into these four on the way." She pushes the door open further to let the Jane and the other boys in, closing it firmly behind them once they all enter.

"Hey, Jane," Mary greets with a bright smile. "And you, Sirius, Remus, Peter."

"Stop being so bloody cheerful for a moment," Dorcas groans, and she puts her hands over her face as she's stretching over a whole side of seats, her head resting on another girl's lap. The other girl jiggles her thigh in attempt to move Dorcas, and flips the page of the Quidditch magazine she's reading.

"Let her be," Marlene McKinnon says, lowering her magazine to nod at the newcomers. "Have a good summer?"

"Why do we always have these stupid pleasantries?" Remus wonders aloud, sitting down in the seat Mary moved up to give him. "We all literally always end up seeing each other sometime during the summer anyway." 

"Because it's polite," Mary points out.

"Don't ask me, I've been at Marlene's most of the time," Dorcas says from her space, not even bothering to move. 

"No one was asking you," Lily says, and she lets out a soft 'oof!' as Mary suddenly plops herself onto her lap. "Well, guess that means you can take her seat then, Peter."

Peter looks up from where he's been lingering between the door and Remus, before sliding into the seat. 

"What about me and Jane?" Sirius says, almost indignantly, eyeing up the seat Peter just took.

"Sit on the floor," Marlene advises. Jane and Sirius look at each other for a moment, then shrug their shoulders and take the rest of the floor space between them. 

"Have you heard the new The Pixies album, Lupin?" Dorcas says suddenly, lifting her head up for a moment. Her eyes are sparkling, her eyebrows raised in interest.

"Not yet," Remus replies, and it sounds almost mournful. "I haven't had the chance."

"I don't know how you can listen to that rubbish," Sirius states, pulling a face. He nudges Jane up to give him more room, to which she promptly leans against his knees instead. "The Weird Sisters are so much better."

Dorcas lets out a hiss, that sounds disturbingly like an angry snake. 

"Look what you've done," Marlene sighs. "How many times are we going to have this The Pixies versus The Weird Sisters argument?"

"Enough times until Black admits he's wrong," Dorcas sniffs.

And that's how they spend the next two hours, a jumble of limbs and playfully angry shouting.

The lunch trolley could be heard clattering about half an hour after they all seated themselves, and it's Jane who scrambles out to buy a whole pile, Peter offering to carry the lot back. She flat out refuses when everyone tries to pay her back.

Mary takes out a box of cupcakes from her trunk, nattering on about how her mother forced her to take them for her lunch, and she passes them around. Soon enough, it's just a mess of wrappers, a constant stream of the Aguamenti charm to put out imaginative games of Exploding Snap, and loud chattering. 

It's nearly half past three when Lily checks her watch, the word 'shit' falling out of her mouth as she disentangles her legs from Mary and accidentally kicks Jane in an attempt to stand up. 

"I almost forgot we had to patrol corridors, I think one of the professors wanted to see me too," she says, and her hands fiddle with her hair to pull it from the ponytail she hastily did.

Remus looks up from where he's having a conversation with Dorcas, having the decency to look ashamed also, "Right. I'll be going quickly, then." He sidesteps around Jane and Sirius' sprawling figures on the floor, and stands by the door to wait for Lily. They both exit.

Mary's leaning forward to continue her conversation she was having with Lily, to Peter, who seems to only vaguely know what she's talking about as he nods and listens to her constant stream of thought. Dorcas has thrown herself back onto Marlene's lap again, interjecting her opinion every now and then, finally causing her best friend to flick her in an attempt to shut her up.

"Oi, Sirius, I thought you told me that you'd poke around and help me find some new players for the team?" Jane says, prodding him in the knee to get his attention. 

Sirius lets out a large groan, his head throwing back as he turns away from speaking to Marlene. 

"If you don't, you'll have to actually play as a player," she reminds.

"I don't understand why you don't actually just play on the team," Mary chips in. "I mean, it's not as if you're bad at Quidditch or anything."

It's Peter who answers instead, his eyes rolling, "It's because he's lazy."

"I am not lazy!" Sirius huffs in indignation, and there's a loud snigger from Dorcas and Marlene. "I just prefer to stay on the sidelines, as a reserve. And the best cheerleader you'll be able to ever find, thank you very much."

Marlene scuffs him on the head as she speaks to Jane instead. "How many players short are we this year?"

"Three," she answers immediately. "There's still you as Keeper, Charles Weasley as a beater. Oh, and Lara Singh told me earlier on during the holidays that she's also fine to still play Seeker, if I'm up for it. So, we're missing two Chasers and a Beater."

"Beaters are often one of the worse to find," Marlene says, pulling a face. "Mind you, at least it's not a Seeker. Gods, those are the worst. Hey," -- an idea seemed to spark in her mind, and she turns to Sirius, a hopeful smile on her lips -- "You wouldn't want to be our Beater -- "

"Don't bother," Jane cuts across. "I ask him every year to try out, and he always says no."

"Ugh," Marlene mock-pouts, and pokes the girl on her lap, who's been feigning sleep. "Doe, you wouldn't want to --"

Dorcas' eyes are still closed as she mumbles, "Don't even think about finishing that question, McKinnon."

"You're a terrible friend," the taller girl says with a frown. Jane stifles a laugh.

There's a pause of silence, before Mary's voice breaks through, "Why are none of you asking Peter and I?"

"Because the last time I tried out for the team was third year, and I got knocked out by the Quaffle," Peter says with an awkward chuckle.

"Oh -- I remember that!" Sirius says, sitting up. "That was --"

"What about me?" Mary interrupts, sounding rather offended. 

Jane and Marlene exchange looks, which leads to a brief stare-off. After a while, it's Marlene who breaks it off, especially once Dorcas starts to answer.

"Well, it's because you --"

"C'mon, Mare," Marlene says, loudly over Dorcas. Her elbow buries itself in her best friend's rib. "Even you know that you're not exactly the most talented at Quidditch. Remember first year flying?"

"First year flying was a long time ago," says Mary, and she still sounds slightly miffed.

"Don't be such a baby," Dorcas rolls her eyes. "I know you're bad at Quidditch, you know you're bad at Quidditch, I'm pretty sure most of our year knows you're bad at Quidditch."

Mary folds her arm over her chest, a sign that shows just how upset she was getting. Whilst the girl was one of the optimistic they would probably meet, the remaining Marauders had been friends with her long enough to know how drastic her mood swings could be. 

"Well, I'll just be --" Jane's eyes flicker to the door, which Sirius is already opening and walking out of, without so much of an excuse. Peter mouths an apology over at Dorcas, who in turn calls them cowards, as the three rush out of the compartment.

"Oh, Mare, Doe didn't mean it like that," Jane hears Marlene say before the door slides shut behind her. "You're great at so much other stuff --"

The three Marauders hurry towards the compartment Jane and Sirius had previously dumped their things in, settling in the seats there instead. They spend the next few hours not doing much, other than an enthusiastic game of wizard chess, which ended with Peter notoriously winning and Sirius lowkey sulking for the rest of the journey.

***

It's when the Hogwarts Express finally chugs to a stop do they meet up with the other girls again. Jane had told Remus about the issue that made them leave them in the first place and, whilst Remus frowned at them, it was clear that he was almost relieved at the idea of not having to deal with their friend in such a state, anyway.

Jane feels a flick on her head as she's walking towards a carriage, and turns to see Marlene glaring at her.

"Thanks for leaving me to deal with an emotional Mary and a no-filter-to-her-mouth Doe," she tells her and all Jane can do is give her a sheepish smile. Jane looks around for Sirius, but he's already searching for a carriage with Peter. Her eye catches Lily's, who seems to be holding a vivid conversation with Dorcas, and the redhead gives her a nod before turning away again. Marlene catches this exchange and hides a smile, the same one Remus gave on the train, and Jane shoves her.

"What?" Jane repeats as she did to her other friend, and Marlene shakes her head. She links their arms, following the same direction of Sirius and Peter, who finally seems to have found a carriage. 

Just as Marlene's getting on ahead of Jane, they hear a small shriek.

"What's that?" a girl with a Hufflepuff tie says in a terrified voice, her finger pointing at the head of a carriage. Her other arm is clutching her friend's, who seems to be trying to inch away from her. 

"What?" her friend says, looking in the same direction. The close knot of people around them follow their gazes. Jane's face whitens as she understands. "What are you looking at, Susie?"

"That -- that thing pulling the carriages," the first girl replies, and her finger is shaking. 

Jane leaves Marlene's side to seek out Lily. She grabs her arm, who is also watching the scene in slight confusion.

"Threstals," Jane says, slightly breathless. "Can only see them if you've seen someone die, remember? Go -- go tell her."

Lily still seems to be in slight shock, but in a few moments, she has managed to have put on her Headgirl front again, and she moves towards the girl.

"Hey," Lily touches the girl's arm, who almost jumps in fright. She realises she can't be much older than a fourth year. "It's all right. They're harmless, see? They're only there to pull the carriages along."

"But what are they?" the girl says, and she lets Lily pull her gently away from the growing crowd.

"They're called Threstals. I don't suppose you've learnt it yet, have you? They..." Jane hears Lily's kind voice trail off as they move further away, and she rejoins Marlene still standing at the door of the carriage. Sirius' head has popped out to see what the commotion all is.

"Threstals?" Sirius says, once they four of them are seated inside and begin moving. 

Jane nods. Every year, more and more whispers are heard about the seemingly invisible creatures. It's the first time, though, that there's been a public scene caused by it.

"I still can't see them," Peter mumbles. Sirius levels him with a look, to which he quickly amends, "Not that I want to. I was just saying."

"More people are seeing it nowadays, aren't they? It wasn't only that Puff, I saw so many others seeing it for the first time. You can tell by their faces," Marlene says, almost flippantly. The rest of the words hang in the air: more Death Eater casualties.

"Well, that turned morbid fast," Sirius says over the silence, and it probably sounds insensitive to anyone who didn't know him, but his friends in the carriage understand better. "Did anyone see Hagrid?"

Jane frowns. "Actually, no. But he must've taken the first years up already. We'll say hi at dinner."

It's chatter about nothing that fills the carriage as it's brought to a halt at the gates of the castle. As a four, they hurry up the stairs, eager to move out of the sharp coldness of September that stings against their skin.

Lily catches up with them as they're about to enter the Great Hall, a miserable look on her face.

"The girl's mum," Lily tells Jane when she moves forward. Her voice and expression tells how upset she is. "She saw her mum die from some Dark Magic in St. Mungo's over the summer holidays."

Jane opens her mouth to ask something, but Lily seems to know what the question is going to be.

"Yeah, her mum was Muggleborn," she says. Jane looks at her for a moment, and she isn't surprised to hear anger mixed laced in her voice.

The two walk in silence behind Marlene, Sirius and Peter, until they sit themselves down at a far end of the Gryffindor table. A cough at the front of the Great Hall silences the students, and Professor McGonagall places the Sorting Hat onto the stool. There's the usual line of terrified first years, their owlish eyes scanning the Hall in wonder, and the pang of nostalgia hits Jane again, like it does every year. 

***

"You're not sneaking into the boys' dorms tonight, are you?" 

Marlene's sitting at the end of Jane's bed, the latter lying with her head on her pillow. Two beds away, Dorcas is painting her nails and Mary, who seems reasonably happier in the hours since the train, is pulling things out of her trunk to fold into piles.

Jane kicks Marlene, sticking her tongue out at her. "Yeah, because you so didn't sneak into Sirius' bed throughout last year."

Ignoring Dorcas' guffaws, Marlene pulls a face. "Oi, it was a genuine question. I didn't suggest that you were going to sleep with any of them, you always go there anyway."

"I don't know. Seven years, and I'm still wondering why you haven't jumped Lupin," Dorcas says casually. 

Jane catches Marlene's eye, and they both erupt into fits of laughter.

"What?" demands Dorcas. "I'm just saying, you hang around them so often, it's a wonder why you haven't."

"Honestly, if we're going to place bets on who Jane's going to sleep with out of those three, I'm putting my money on Sirius," Mary says from her space on the floor, rolling socks up. "Sorry, Mar."

Jane and Marlene laugh harder than ever, and the whole bed is shaking from their moving. Dorcas and Mary look at each other, a brief and rare bond forming as their confusion unite them together. 

"What's so funny?" Lily says, coming out of the bathroom with a towel around her head. She begins drying her hair by hand, just as Marlene's gasps are audible as she chokes on her own laughter. 

"No clue, ask them." Dorcas blows on her nails, nodding over to Jane's bed. 

Jane shakes her head, wiping tears from her eyes, and stands up. "Never -- never mind. I'm using the bathroom next, by the way." Before any of them could disagree, she grabs her things and walks into the bathroom, still chuckling slightly.

The three girls turn to Marlene instead, eyebrows raised. The dark-haired girl only shrugs as she moves towards her own bed. "It was just a private joke Jane told me a while ago. It reminded us of it."

They don't miss the grin she tries to hide as she ducks her head to reach her trunk.


	3. Changes on our hands (and faces)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> honestly no clue. (4590)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know this took forever fghfh but i've had no muse???? anyways, love me.

"I cannot be the only one who thought this Professor Montgomery looks like a wanker."

Honestly, it's credit to Lily and Mary that the eight of them managed to get the seats they wanted. The eight of them split into their default pairs: Lily and Mary, with Marlene and Dorcas in the nearest table beside them, in the middle row; Jane and Sirius, Remus and Peter, in the tables behind them respectively. Usually, most of them couldn't give a damn where they sat, but Defence Against the Dark Arts is a lesson that all of them could appreciate. Not that the inconsistency of teachers meant they learnt an awful lot every year, but anyway.

"Could you be any louder?" Lily hisses at Dorcas, as the Ravenclaws sitting in front of them turn at the words with a smirk on their faces.

Dorcas shrugs. Mary rolls her eyes and leans forward to engage in a conversation with one of the Ravenclaws, a pretty smile falling on her lips as she speaks. 

"I'm just saying. If I don't start talking, I'm going to fall asleep. Would you believe it if I said I wasn't used to having class so early in the morning?" groans Dorcas, pushing her timetable she only received twenty minutes previously towards Lily.

"Funnily enough, I would. It's not as if you've been saying it for the last six years." With Marlene's chair being pushed back to talk to the Marauders behind her, Lily grabs the timetable off the table with ease. "You're taking Muggle Studies?"

"I'm good at it," Dorcas says defensively, plucking the sheet of parchment back out of her hands. "And Marlene didn't want to take it alone."

"Actually, that's half a lie," the brunette next to her adds, leaning forward again at the mention of her name. "Effy Macmillan is taking it, and I would be perfectly content sitting with her, if you didn't want to."

"That wasn't the topic of the conversation," Dorcas brushes easily, waving her hand as if dismissing Marlene's comment. "The topic was about our new Professor probably being a wanker --"

"Who's supposedly a wanker?" a new voice joins their conversation, and the three of them look up to see a middle-aged man taking out his things by the teacher's desk. The rest of the class turn to see who he's talking to, and it's with clamped lips to hide a snigger does Lily shuffle closer to Mary.

"Didn't realise you'd entered, Professor, my bad," Dorcas says. Beside her, Marlene groans.

"Name?" 

"Meadowes. Dorcas Meadowes."

"Well, five points from Gryffindor for use of inappropriate language. I would restrain from calling people wankers, by the way," he says lightly, and there's a soft murmur of laughter. Marlene's hiccoughing into her hand, no doubt thinking that Dorcas' use of 'wanker' was probably one of the nicest insults to fall out of her mouth. 

"Nice start to the new year," Lily whispers, and Mary smiles.

"Well, I suppose introductions are in order, first of all. I'm Professor Montgomery. As all of you are aware, this is my first year of teaching here. Now, I understand that you've had a few professors for this subject previously, so you'll have to excuse me for going over the rules I am obligated to set in this class. Though, as seventh years and NEWT students, I expect you to have the maturity to..."

At these words, Lily half-turns her head to give a pointed look to Sirius and Jane behind her. As if in on cue, the two stop carving pictures onto the desk with their wands and look up. Jane pulls a face at Lily staring, and her eyes roll when she turns back to the front. Her ears zoning out at the talk of introductory speeches, which they hear at the beginning of every lesson every year, she glances around the classroom instead. 

Eight Gryffindors. The two other boys in their house that share the dorm with Sirius, Remus and Peter honestly just drift around, and it's often hard to pinpoint where they are or who they hang around with. Lily remembers in fourth year when they all sat around the Lake and invited them to join them, but they spent the whole time mumbling to each other under their breath that they didn't seem too bothered when they weren't asked to sit with them again. Dorcas told her once that they spend most of their time getting high, and that's why they spend so much time behind the Herbology greenhouses with the Hufflepuffs, but Lily doesn't know if she believes her or not. Either way, she doesn't really want to find out.

Three Ravenclaws. Lily's friends with about two of them, the other one she only knows by name. Bertram Aubrey is one of them, and he greeted her at the door as she was walking in before slipping into the seat beside his two friends, the row in front of her. 

Five Hufflepuffs. Most of them are listening intently, though one of the girls has her chin tucked in her hand as she's gazing up at Professor Montgomery. 

Two lone Slytherins sit in the back corner, seemingly ignoring the rest of the class as they take notes and occasionally whisper something to one another. She realises with a jolt that one of them is Severus, and he looks up at the same time she's gazing at the corner. Their eyes meet for a brief second, but it's her who looks away first. She thinks of how she hasn't talked to him since the beginning of summer, before quickly banishing any thought of him from her mind.

Mary gives her a nudge in the ribs, effectively forcing Lily's focus back on the lesson. "He's actually started the lesson now."

As she's taking down notes on Fiendfyre, Lily pretends she doesn't feel Severus' eyes on her as Jane and Sirius pelt the back of her head with pieces of parchment.

***

At the end of the lesson, Lily is one of the first to pack away her things. She stands at the door to wait for her friends to hurry up, leaning out of the way when the group of Hufflepuffs crowd out. She sees Severus a beat too late when he's walking behind the Hufflepuffs with his friend, and she immediately diverts her gaze to a portrait on the opposite wall. 

"No, go ahead, I'll catch up in a moment," she hears him say quietly to his friend, who gives him a suspicious look before walking down the corridor. Severus is suddenly standing in front of her.

"Hey," Lily says, simply because, honestly, she doesn't know what to say to him anymore. 

"Hey," he echoes back at her. They stand in silence for a moment.

"Did you want something?" she says, breaking the silence as she becomes acutely aware that he's staring at her.

His shoulders hunch. "Just... Just wanted to say congrats on becoming Headgirl."

"Thanks," she replies. 

"You didn't mention that over the holidays."

"I think we both don't tell each other things anymore, don't you?" she says, trying to keep her tone light, but the words are pointed.

There's another silence, and then --

"You know, for a moment, I thought Dumbledore might put Potter as Headgirl instead," he says bitterly, and Lily makes a small huffing noise.

"I told you, I don't want to hear what you've got to say about my friends," she tells him tartly.

"But --"

"You should go, Severus. You don't want to be seen with a Mudblood, do you?" she cuts him off coldly. He looks as if he's going to say something else, but grimaces and walks down the corridor.

Lily releases the breath she realises she's been holding since he approached her.

"Are you all right, Lily?" Remus says, coming out of the classroom. His eyes follow where the Slytherin went, lingering.

"Yeah," she says. She changes the subject quickly. "Is Mary nearly done packing?" 

"To be honest, they're all taking forever back there." Remus rolls his eyes. "But, if you're going back to the Common Room, I'll walk with you, if you would like."

"Fine by me. Better than waiting all day with them," Lily says with a chuckle, and the pair of them begin to walk. Had her mind been less preoccupied, she might've noticed the slow pace he subtly insists they walk. "So, how have you been?"

"I've been fine. I suppose you have got a free period, too?" 

"Yeah. I forgot to ask earlier, what subjects did you take?"

"Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration. Oh, and Defence." He scratches the back of his head, as if embarrassed.

Lily stops walking, causing Remus to hang back as well. She tilts her head, thinking. "I reckon that's almost exactly the same as mine. Except Charms instead of Herbology."

"I'm surprised you took four subjects still," he says when they start walking again. "Peter took three, and he doesn't even have to balance being Headgirl."

She gives a small smile. "Mary's only taken three because she, and I quote, 'cannot be arsed to take more subjects than necessary this year'. But I'd rather be busier than not, especially this year. Can you believe we're seventh years, already?"

"Honestly, no. Doesn't it feel like yesterday when you wore your hair in those awful pigtails?" Remus says, with a small grin. 

"You mean, doesn't it feel like yesterday when you encouraged Potter to pull at my pigtails?" she retorts, and she's happy to see him throw his head back and laugh.

"Hard to believe we're leaving next year." 

"What do you want to do when you leave school, Remus?" she asks, turning the corner.

The grin slips off his face, the bags under his eyes suddenly more prominent. "I don't know, yet." He hesitates. "But I think I will join up the Order of the Phoenix that's been rumoured around. The war doesn't look like it's going to end any time soon."

"No, it doesn't," she agrees with a sigh. "It won't feel right if I don't join up with Order, too. Though, let's imagine a world where You-Know-Who doesn't exist. What would you like to do?"

"You know," he starts, and she's relieved to see a small smile on his face again. It makes a massive difference to his current pale features. "I do think I'd like to be a teacher."

"A teacher?" she says in surprise. They both step onto a staircase, holding the banister as it begins to move. "You know what? I can see you as a teacher. Professor Lupin."

Remus pulls a face, rolling his eyes. "Don't tell the others. They'll laugh themselves silly. What about you?"

"Truthfully? I think being a potioneer would be fun. Maybe owning an apothecary, where I can experiment in the back room," she jokes, but her eyes sparkle at the thought. They reach the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Gobbledegook."

The portrait swings forward to let them in. 

"Do you want to start your Defence homework now?" Remus asks Lily, and she groans.

"But we just got it," she whines, flinging herself into her favourite armchair. 

"But we've got nothing to do now, it would be better to get it out of the way. Besides," he adds, sitting in the chair next to her and taking out his things. "Imagine the look on our friends' faces when they're rushing to do it last minute and we've done it."

At the last point, Lily sits up. She takes out a roll of parchment and a quill. "Is that why you always look so smug at the beginning of Transfiguration lessons?"

Remus doesn't say anything, pretending he doesn't hear the question and humming instead.

***

Frankly, Lily should have known NEWT lessons were going to be as hard as this. Not to mention, the need to have to keep breaking up fights in the corridors on the way to her lessons. She had already docked ten points apiece from Slytherin and Gryffindor, and five off of Ravenclaw. 

"Why do people keep getting into fights?" she grumbles, sliding into a space next to Marlene at the Gryffindor table. She leans over to dump a handful of chips on her plate. "It's the first day, for God's sake." She looks over at Marlene, as if demanding an answer.

The other girl shrugs, rolling up the sleeves of her robes as it flaps. "People haven't been able to use magic over the summer. All this war tension is building up anger in people." She gives a pointed look to Dorcas across the table.

Dorcas flips her friend off as she takes a bite out of her bread roll.

"Some second year tried to swear at me when I docked points, I swear they're getting worse every --" Lily breaks off when a breathless Mary shoves them over to sit down. "Where've you been?"

"With Nicolaus Fawcett. He wanted to walk with me around the grounds after Care of Magical Creatures," she says, her cheeks flushing pink.

"The Ravenclaw bloke?" Marlene raises her eyebrows when Mary nods. "It's, like, five degrees outside." 

"He lent me his jumper," Mary says in an evidently pleased tone.

"You're such a hopeless romantic, MacDonald," Dorcas says, shaking her head.

Mary sticks her tongue out at her. "It's cute. Go on, Lil, tell her it's cute."

"It's cute," agrees Lily. She is consequently hit by bread pieces. "You can't argue with love, Doe!"

The four of them collapse into helpless giggles.

"You'll find love someday, Meadowes," Mary says with a sigh. 

"Mary, you've been talking to this bloke for less than a day," says an amused Marlene. 

"So?"

"So --"

"When do you think you'd fall in love?" Lily asks suddenly. She pops a chip in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "Like, really in love?"

"Never," Dorcas says immediately. 

"One of these days, you will stop being so negative," Mary huffs.

"Fortunately for everyone, today's not that day." Dorcas stands up, brushing bread crumbs off of her robes. "Now, McKinnon, are you coming to Muggle Studies or not?"

With a tedious sigh, Marlene shovels the her last forkful of pie into her mouth. "Coming. Why're we leaving so early anyway? We've still got ten minutes."

"To avoid Lily's gross talk of love," Dorcas says, and she's only half-joking. "We might be able to grab the back seats in class if we get there now."

Marlene mutters something under her breath, but she gets up and waves at Lily and Mary. Her dark brown hair sweeps behind her, contrasting heavily to Dorcas' lighter one with different coloured streaks.

"You don't have a lesson next period, do you?" Lily says and turns to her remaining friend.

"Nope," Mary replies. "But I'll walk with you to Charms once you're done. Maybe I can bribe someone to give me the answers to the Defence homework." She gives Lily puppy-dog eyes, to which she pretends to not see.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" asks Lily instead.

"I'm not really hungry. Nicolaus took me to the kitchens earlier on..." She trails off, a hopelessly faraway look in her eye.

Lily finishes off her plate and stands up, linking her arms with her friend's. "All right, all right, tell me all about this Nicolaus as we're walking to Charms, c'mon."

***

Thirty minutes ago, Lily had actually liked Professor Flitwick. Right now, she's weighing her judgement.

See, what she had learnt in the last four years wasn't that Jane Potter was bad person, per se. Just vaguely annoying when it came to schoolwork and, definitely, not one of her first choices if they were to pick partners.

The moment Mary had left her at the door, she took one look at her class and should've known. She remembered one of Marlene's older brothers telling her that Charms was an easy way out -- a simpler lesson, if you will. But Alice Fortescue, long-term friend of Lily's and the year before last's Headgirl, had told her that it wasn't so bad and could be fun, when it wanted to be.

And, anyway, Lily would take Alice's advice over Marlene's older brother, who once had his face smashed because he flew into a Quidditch goalpost as he tried to dodge the Quaffle.

She's rethinking her decision when she sees the beaming faces of Jane Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, identical smirks on their lips as they move up on their desk to make room for her. She's thoroughly regretting it when Professor Flitwick warns that these seats will be permanent. 

Oh, no, that's not all. The person sitting next to you will probably end up being your partner for the rest of the year, too. Especially for that major research task that will contribute to extra credit for your NEWTs by the end of the year.

"Looks like it's you and me, Wormy," she hears Sirius say on the other side of Jane. There's a scratch of a chair against the floor, and Lily's only assuming that he's pushed the chair closer to his other friend.

And Jane Potter? The devil herself gives her a shit-eating grin, and Lily instantly knows she's in for a long year.

Determined to outdo Professor Flitwick, the redhead dips her quill in ink. There's nothing Professor Flitwick will actually start teaching this lesson, the first one back for the year. But she refuses to look over at the three idiots beside her, focusing her attention on listening to Flitwick half-heartedly and inking a flower on her parchment. She's just drawing on a leaf when there's a flick of something on her ear, and her quill hovers in mid-air as she glances over at Jane beside her.

"Do you have a hairpin?" Jane mouths at her, in response to Lily's raised eyebrow.

Lily's eyes flickered to the other girl's hair -- permanently messy, the way Jane liked it, and Lily doubts a pin has ever been near it in her life. "Why?"

Jane shrugs in response.

With a sigh, Lily extracts a hairpin from her hair to pass it over with one hand. Jane gives her a quick thanks and slips the item to Sirius. There's a heartbeat of a moment where Lily debates asking what it's for, but she decides against it and turns back to her drawing instead. In the distraction, she must've forgotten her quill hovering over her page whilst dipped in ink, and there's a large splat where her flower would've been.

'Well,' she thinks with a grumble as she rips the end with the ink splat on it off, "I never liked quills anyway."

\--

She's half-hoping Mary's waiting by the door for her at the end of her double Charms lesson, but she's expectedly disappointed. Instead, she finds herself walking with three out of four of the Marauders. Lily's hoping no one notices when she shifts herself next to Peter, who's only just taller than her. Standing in between Sirius and Jane only made her depressed about her height.

"Oh -- Black, I almost forgot. I want my hairpin back," she says, leaning forward as they walk to see his face. 

The three exchange looks, before Sirius goes into his pocket. "Uh, are you sure you want it back?"

Lily fixes him with a glare. "What did you do to it?"

He gives his best (and what he hoped) winning smile. "Ah, c'mon, Red --"

"Sirius."

Jane nudges him and Sirius sighs. He presses something into Lily's outstretched hand. 

She looks down at what used to be a hairpin. She's not sure how, but it's been bent in awkward angles and, if she looks closely enough, there's traces of magical destruction. Predictably, she opens her mouth to say something, but the boy has already sped off.

"Race you to the top, Wormy!" he calls when he reaches the bottom of a staircase, and begins running up.

"I'm not racing you," Peter says, but his pace quickens as he tries to take two steps at a time.

Rolling her eyes, Lily turns to the remaining one left. "You wouldn't happen to know why or how he destroyed my hairpin, would you?"

"Maybe," Jane replies. She's avoiding eye contact, and changes the subject abruptly. "Race you too?"

Lily's protesting, saying something about her heavy bag as an excuse, but Jane's already running and she doesn't want to be left behind. Moving out of the way of startled third-years going in the opposite direction, she attempts to copy them, but fails miserably as she ends up panting halfway up.

"Not everyone is made up of athletic builds," she calls up, wheezing as she holds onto the banister for support. 

By the time Lily looks up, Jane Potter's leaning over the edge at the top, her mouth upturned. Her head is thrown back in laughter, her short black hair swinging carelessly around her shoulders. Her nose scrunches as she laughs at Lily, and her cheeks flush pink, and it must be the light of a nearby lamp, but Lily's suddenly mesmerised, though she know she won't admit it.

Actually, it's most definitely the light. She swears it.

"You're not going to help me, are you?" Lily says, mostly to break the moment.

Jane is still laughing as she shakes her head, and Lily drags her feet up the stairs.

"Where've you two been?" Sirius asks when they catch up. He's standing impatiently with Peter.

"Evans was, uh, having trouble with the stairs," Jane says, definitely suppressing a snigger.

There's a look in Sirius' eye that Lily doesn't want to think of what it means, so she steps forward around them and carries on walking. She pushes the doors to the Great Hall and spots Marlene immediately talking to Nearly Headless Nick. To her side, Dorcas seems to be arguing with Mary across the table. 

"Good evening, Miss Evans," Nearly Headless Nick greets as Lily takes the seat next to Mary. 

"Hello. How're you?" She picks up her knife and fork, looking up.

"I'm good, thank you. I was just discussing about what Miss McKinnon wanted to do once the year was over," he says, gesturing to Marlene. "Now, I hope you don't mind, but I'm just going to..." He nods towards the other end of the Gryffindor table and floats away, startling the fifth years nearby as he goes through them.

Lily raises a questioning eyebrow at Marlene, who shrugs. "He wanted to know what I want to do when I'm older. Tried to persuade me to think about being a Healer, for some reason. I told him I don't know yet."

The redhead smiles and decides not to question it. "What're they arguing about?" Lily asks instead, as Mary's voice only gets shriller. 

"Probably everything," Marlene reasons, but she doesn't seem concerned. 

"Should we --?"

"Nah, they've been at it for the last fifteen minutes. Give it another five, you know what they're like. -- Oi, pass the pumpkin juice," adds Marlene, nodding to Lily's left.

Leaning over to give the jug, Lily sighs. "How can you drink that? It's disgusting. You would think Hogwarts would make decent apple juice. Or maybe some Coca Cola. God, I'm really craving some Coke now."

Marlene takes a long sip from her cup, the corners of her mouth upturning. "Must be one of your Muggle things. I've been drinking this stuff since I could lift from a goblet."

Lily pulls a face in reply.

"You had double Charms just now, didn't you?" Marlene's hair swings forward into her food and, out of frustration, pulls it into a messy bun so she can eat. 

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe what Flitwick said about partners --," Lily looks around to glare at the Marauders, but she realises for the first time that they're suddenly not there. "Well, the three idiots were behind me before I walked into the Hall."

"If it's one thing I know from growing up next to Jane, it's that they'll pop up at the most random time." Marlene rolls her eyes.

"You know Black messed my hairpin up, cheeky sod," replies Lily sourly. She takes the pin out and skids it across the table. "No clue what he done to it."

Marlene pulls her wand from her sleeve and casts a quick 'Reparo!' on it. They watch as it bends slightly more in shape, before twitching and remaining still.

"Ugh," Lily grumbles unhappily. "Anyway, how's Muggle Studies? I couldn't decide if I wanted to take it or not."

"There would be no point, you know all of the stuff probably. They were teaching us about televisions today. I don't know how, but Doe aced it all."

"It's because I know everything," the mentioned girl says, breaking off her argument with Mary. Lily glances over at Mary, who has her eyes raised to the ceiling. 

"It's because you used mine for the whole of the summer before last," interjects Lily, sticking up her tongue. "You stayed on my couch for ages, Petunia wouldn't stop complaining."

"Your sister was complaining anyway," Dorcas says tactlessly. "My being there only enforced it."

"Your being there always enforces things."

As Dorcas scowls at Mary, Lily throws her head back to laugh with the rest of the girls. Petunia's unpleasantness threatens to make an appearance in her mind, but she brushes it away determinedly, telling herself that she's already dealt with ghosts from her past for one day already.

\--

"Where were you at dinner?" Lily says absent-mindedly, as she stops next to the taller girl.

Jane glances down, her arms pausing from where she's hanging a Quidditch trials poster. "Keeping a track on me?"

The redhead rolls her eyes. "It's the second day, I'm surprised you're planning to wreak havoc with the boys already."

"C'mon, Evans, you should know by now that it's never to early for us to 'wreak havoc'." And there's a glint in her eye that sparkles like a gem in the light. 

"You're avoiding my question," Lily says stoutly. "I'm Headgirl, I'm responsible for Gryffindor's well-being, aren't I?"

"Do you honestly think that I would not be able to find food for myself if I missed dinner?"

"Your insistence of answering all my questions by asking another one of yours astounds me," Lily deadpans. "Anyway, that wasn't what I was talking about when I said well-being. But, for your benefit, I'll let it slide." She cranes her neck, standing on her tiptoes to see the poster being pinned up. "The coming Saturday? Wouldn't it be better to let people settle in first before applying?"

"I want to win this year; the sooner the team is ready, the better." Jane finishes putting up the poster and steps back to look at it. Lily isn't surprised to see that it takes up most of the space of the noticeboard, including covering other flyers for Gobstones and the chess club. 

"Fair enough." She pats Jane on the shoulder, which is a mild triumph in itself considering the height difference, and turns to go. "I'm heading up to the dorm now, I think the other girls are already there. You coming?" When Jane nods, Lily scrambles towards the staircase to the girls' dorm. "Race you!"

Jane doesn't really have much choice, not really, and she's dodging leftover sixth years on the way to their rooms as she sprints after a cackling girl who barely comes up to her shoulder.


End file.
